Arab ministers back Egypt truce efforts for Gaza

CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab ministers gave their backing on Saturday to Egyptian efforts to secure a truce that would end Israel's offensive on Gaza, they said in a statement after an Arab League meetingin Cairo.

Arab foreign ministers also agreed to form a delegation to travel to the Palestinian enclave in a show of support. League chief Nabil Elaraby told reporters he would lead the team and that the trip was expected to take place in "one or two days".

Ministers meeting at the Cairo-based headquarters had said Arab states had to take practical steps to support Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel launched a massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared goal of deterring Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years.

In the statement, ministers condemned what they called Israeli "aggression" and also expressed "complete discontent" at the U.N. Security Council's failure to bring about a ceasefire.

Ministers said they "decided to support the efforts exerted by Egypt in coordination with the Palestinian state to stop the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip and ... reach a truce that would result in an immediate end to all military actions".

Egypt had brokered an informal truce in October, which has since collapsed. It now says it is seeking a new deal, with President Mohamed Mursi saying on Saturday there were "some indications" that a ceasefire could be reached soon but he had no firm guarantees.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the League building, some chanting for a "bombardment of Tel Aviv".

At the start of the Arab meeting, several ministers called for active steps and voiced frustration at the failure of Arab declarations or initiatives to make any difference in the past.

"Today we will issue a statement. What will it mean? It won't mean anything," said Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani. "We need to do something practical for those suffering, at least from a humanitarian point of view."

"I am not talking about war or military action ... I am talking about offering support to our brothers in Palestine," Sheikh Hamad added. Qatar's emir pledged $400 million to help develop Gaza during a visit there in October.

DELEGATION

On Saturday, Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in the Palestinian territory, after Israel's cabinet authorised the mobilization of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible ground invasion.

The Arab delegation visit to Gaza will follow trips by Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdesslem, who went on Saturday, and Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, who traveled on Friday, using his trip to condemn Israeli actions while pledging to work for a truce.

Mursi held talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on the Gaza crisis and a range of issues.

Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of Israel, while the Qatari emir's visit to Gaza in October broke the isolation of the Palestinian group. Both arrived in Egypt earlier in the day.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal was also in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the Gaza crisis, a presidential source said.

A presidential source had said there would be four-way talks between Mursi, the Qatari emir, the Turkish prime minister and Meshaal. But the source later said a four-way meeting did not take place, without giving a reason.

Meshaal held talks on Saturday with Egyptian security officials on prospects for a truce, an Egyptian official told Reuters.

Erdogan, whose trip was planned before the Gaza violence surged, praised Egypt's decision to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv in response to Israel's attacks. Turkey withdrew its envoy in 2010 over a separate incident.

(Additional reporting by Ayman Samir in Cairo and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alison Williams)

Current Gaza fighting reflects new battleground

JERUSALEM (AP) — With pinpoint airstrikes on militant targets in the Gaza Strip and Iranian-made rockets flying deep into Israel, the current conflagration between Israel and Hamas reflects the vast changes that have taken place on the battlefield in just four years.

Israel, armed with precise intelligence and newly developed munitions, has carried out hundreds of surgical airstrikes in a campaign meant to hit militants hard while avoiding the civilian casualties that have marred previous offensives.

Hamas, meanwhile, has not been stopped from firing its new longer-range rockets that shocked Israelis by reaching the areas around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for the first time, and has revealed a variety of new weapons.

This battle zone is the result of meticulous efforts by both sides to beef up their abilities since a three-week Israeli offensive in Gazathat ended in January 2009.

At that time, Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hamas. But the operation caused widespread damage to the civilian infrastructure and killed hundreds of civilians. The heavy toll drew heavy international criticism and war crimes accusations, despite Israeli protestations that the Islamic militant group was responsible by using schools and residential areas for cover. Thirteen Israelis also were killed in the fighting.

In four days of fighting, Israel has sought to hit clear militant targets — relying on painstaking intelligence gathered through a network of informers, aerial surveillance and other high-tech measures.

Israeli military officials say greater coordination between military intelligence and the Shin Bet security service has allowed deeper infiltration into Hamas ranks and quick decision-making on airstrikes.

An arsenal of high-flying drones constantly hovering above Gaza provides a live picture of movements on the ground.

Other technological means used to avoid collateral damage include specially designed munitions with smaller blowback, a system of sending text messages and automated phone calls to warn residents to vacate areas ahead of strikes and stun explosives that are deployed to create large explosive sounds — to scare off civilians before the real payload is deployed against militants. The officials described the tactics on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

However, the room for error is small. Of the 46 Palestinians killed in the current offensive, 15 have been civilians, according to Palestinian medical officials. In addition, more than 400 civilians have been wounded, the officials say. Israel knows that a single misfire resulting in high numbers of civilian deaths could quickly turn international opinion against it.

The results of the new Israeli tactics were illustrated at the outset of the offensive, when Israel assassinated Hamas' military chief, Ahmed Jabari, in an airstrike in Gaza City.

In a black and white video released by the military, a car carrying Jabari moves slowly along a narrow road before exploding into flames, sending a large chunk of the vehicle flying skyward without injuring bystanders.

Since then, the Israelis have carried out hundreds of surgical airstrikes against weapon depots, launching pads and other targets. On Saturday morning, for instance, a massive airstrike flattened the headquarters of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh but caused little damage to buildings directly adjacent to it. Curious children quickly arrived to inspect the aftermath.

"Many of the targets that we targeted from the air were in very densely populated areas, sometimes they were even near U.N. facilities or schools or recreation centers," said Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, a military spokeswoman. "This leads us to develop and use very precise ammunitions in order to minimize casualties ... they know Israel has a soft spot for civilian casualties. We have improved significantly in the area."

Uzi Dayan, a former general and national security adviser, said Israeli intelligence has been tracking Hamas individuals and locations for years, waiting patiently for the opportune moment to attack.

"When you discover a place, you don't strike it immediately. You track it, observe it and wait," he said. "Over time, these targets add up."

Another tool is recruiting informers. The task has become harder since Israeli forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and lost the immediate interaction with its assets. But the Shin Bet is still prolific in recruiting Palestinians imprisoned in Israel or those who travel to Israel for medical procedures.

Palestinians claim the Shin Bet often blackmails Palestinians into cooperating by threatening to expose details that would shame them or even get them killed at home.

Hamas' military wing killed two Palestinians this week for allegedly providing Israel with sensitive information. One man was shot twice in the head. Another body was found tossed into a garbage bin with a gunshot wound to the head.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said thanks to its intelligence Israel immediately destroyed most of the long-range missile threat against it. Still, Israel has been hit by more than 400 rockets in four days of fighting, including attacks against the Tel Aviv heartland and Jerusalem, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) away.

In several attacks, Hamas said it had unleashed for the first time the most powerful weapons in their arsenal — Iranian-made Fajr-5 rockets.

Israel's inability to halt the rocket attacks, after days of intense aerial bombardments, reflects its limitations. Just as Israel has raced to improve its military tactics, Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza have built up their arsenals with large numbers of powerful weapons.

Once limited to crude projectiles manufactured in Gaza, Hamas has used smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt to bring in sophisticated, longer-range rockets from Iran and Libya, which has been flush with weapons since Moammar Gadhafi was ousted last year.

Israel appeared stunned by the attack on Jerusalem, though a day later officials insisted they were aware of the weapon. Hamas said the M-75 missile was made in Gaza, with Iranian assistance.

Hamas officials rejected the Israeli intelligence bravado as propaganda, calling it psychological warfare.

The militants have also done a better job of evading the Israeli military by refraining from using mobile phones or two-way radios and moving frequently from one underground location to another.

In turn, Israel's "Iron Dome" rocket-defense system has provided the country a defensive boost. The military says the system has intercepted nearly 250 rockets, including one heading toward Tel Aviv on Saturday.

The only Israeli deaths in the fighting so far were three civilians who officials said had ignored well publicized security precautions.

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Israel bombards Gaza Strip, shoots down rocket

Associated Press/Oded Balilty - An Iron Dome missile is launched in Tel Aviv, to intercept a rocket fired from Gaza, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012. Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Smoke rises during an explosion from an Israeli forces strike in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012. Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations by militants to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Israelis take cover as an air raid siren warns of incoming rockets from Gaza, next to an Iron Dome defense system in Tel Aviv, Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012. Israel bombarded the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with nearly 200 airstrikes early Saturday, the military said, widening a blistering assault on Gaza rocket operations to include the prime minister's headquarters, a police compound and a vast network of smuggling tunnels. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel destroyed the headquarters of Hamas' prime minister and blasted a sprawling network of smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, broadening a blistering four-day-old offensive against the Islamic militant group even as diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire appeared to be gaining steam.

Hamas officials said a building used by Hamas for broadcasts was bombed and three people were injured. The injured were from Al Quds TV, a Lebanon-based television channel. The building is also used by foreign news outlets including Germany's ARD, Kuwait TV and the Italian RAI and others.

The Israeli military spokesman was not immediately aware of the strikes but said they were investigating.

In neighboring Egypt, President Mohammed Morsi hosted leaders from Hamas and two key allies, Qatar and Turkey, to seek a way to end the fighting.

"There are discussions about the ways to bring a cease-fire soon, but there are no guarantees until now," Morsi said at a news conference. He said he was working with Turkey, Arab countries, the U.S., Russia and western European countries to halt the fighting.

Israel launched the operation on Wednesday in what it said was an effort to end months of rocket fire out of the Hamas-ruled territory. It began the offensive with an unexpected airstrike that killed Hamas' powerful military chief, and since then has relentlessly targeted suspected rocket launchers and storage sites.

In all, 48 Palestinians, including 15 civilians, have been killed and more than 400 civilians wounded, according to medical officials.

Three Israeli civilians have been killed and more than 50 wounded.

Israeli military officials expressed satisfaction with their progress Saturday, claiming they have inflicted heavy damage to Hamas.

"Most of their capabilities have been destroyed," Maj. Gen. Tal Russo, Israel's southern commander, told reporters. Asked whether Israel is ready to send ground troops into Gaza, he said: "Absolutely."

"Most of their weapons are stored in civilian's homes, they launch rockets from residential areas. We do not want to hit civilians in Gaza but we do want to hit the hornets' nest of terror in Gaza," he said.

Footage released Saturday by the Islamic Jihad showed rockets being fired from a hidden bunker in a built-up area. It wasn't clear whether it was a residential neighborhood.

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told channel 1 TV that "Hamas is committing a double war crime, they are firing rockets at Israeli civilians while using Palestinian civilians as human shields."

The White House said President Barack Obama was also in touch with the Egyptian and Turkish leaders. The U.S. has solidly backed Israel so far.

Speaking on Air Force One, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said that the White House believes Israel "has the right to defend itself" against attack and that the Israelis will make their own decisions about their "military tactics and operations."

Despite the bruising offensive, Israel has failed to slow the barrages of rockets from Gaza.

The Israeli military said 160 rockets were launched into Israel on Saturday, raising the total number to roughly 500 since this week's fighting began. Eight Israelis, including five civilians, were lightly wounded Saturday, the army said.

Israel carried out at least 300 airstrikes on Saturday, the military said, and it broadened its array of targets. One air raid flattened the three-story office building used by Hamas' prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh. He was not inside the building at the time.

In southern Gaza, aircraft went after the tunnels that militants use to smuggle in weapons and other contraband from neighboring Egypt. Tunnel operators said the intensity of the bombing was unprecedented, and that massive explosions could be heard kilometers (miles) away, both in Gaza and in Egypt.

The operators, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the illicit nature of their business, said they cannot approach the tunnel area to assess the damage, but the blasts appeared to be more powerful than in Israel's last major push to destroy the tunnels during a previous offensive four years ago. The tunnels are a key lifeline for Hamas, bringing in both weapons and supporting a lucrative trade that helps fund the group's activities.

Missiles also smashed into two small security facilities and the massive Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City, setting off a huge blaze that engulfed nearby houses and civilian cars parked outside, the Interior Ministry reported. No one was inside the buildings.

Early on Sunday, Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said two teenagers were killed and ten people were injured when a building was hit.

Gaza residents reported heavy Israeli raids overnight.

Air attacks knocked out five electricity transformers, cutting off power to more than 400,000 people in southern Gaza, according to the Gaza electricity distribution company. People switched on backup generators for limited electrical supplies.

Hamas has unveiled an arsenal of more powerful, longer-range rockets this week, and for the first time has struck at Israel's two largest cities, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Both cities, more than 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Gaza, had previously been beyond rocket range.

In a psychological boost for Israel, a new rocket-defense system known as "Iron Dome" knocked down a rocket headed toward Tel Aviv, eliciting cheers from relieved residents huddled in fear after air raid sirens sounded in the city.

Associated Press video showed a plume of smoke following an intercepting missile out of a rocket-defense battery deployed near the city, followed by a burst of light overhead as it struck its target.

Police said a second rocket also targeted Tel Aviv. It was not clear where it landed or whether it was shot down. No injuries were reported. It was the third straight day the city was targeted.

Israel says the Iron Dome system has shot down some 250 of 500 rockets fired toward the country this week, most in southern Israel near Gaza.

Saturday's interception was the first time Iron Dome has been deployed in Tel Aviv. The battery was a new upgraded version that was only activated on Saturday, two months ahead of schedule, the Defense Ministry said.

Israel has vowed to stage a ground invasion, a scenario that would bring the scale of fighting closer to that of a war four years ago. Hamas was badly bruised during that conflict but has since restocked its arsenal with more and better weapons. Five years after seizing control of Gaza, it has also come under pressure from smaller, more militant groups to prove its commitment to fighting Israel as it turns its focus to governing the seaside strip.

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak has authorized the emergency call-up of up to 75,000 reserve troops ahead of a possible ground offensive. Israel has massed thousands of troops and dozens of tanks and armored vehicles along the border in recent days.

Egypt, which is led by Hamas' parent movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, has been spearheading efforts to forge a cease-fire. Morsi has vowed to stand strong with the people of Gaza and this week recalled Cairo's ambassador from Israel to protest the offensive.

Quietly, though, non-Muslim Brotherhood members in Morsi's government are said to be pushing Hamas to end its rocket fire on Israel. Morsi is under pressure not to go too far and risk straining ties with Israel's ally, the United States.

The Hamas website said Saturday that its leader, Khaled Meshaal, met with the head of Egyptian intelligence for two hours Saturday in Cairo, a day after the Egyptian official was in the Gaza Striptrying to work out an end to the escalation in violence.

Hamas has not immediately accepted Egypt's proposal for a cease-fire, but the group's website said it could end its rocket fire if Israel agrees to end "all acts of aggression and assassination" and lift its five-year blockade on Gaza. Egypt will present the Hamas position to Israeli officials.

Israeli officials say they are not interested in a "timeout," and want firm guarantees that the rocket fire, which has paralyzed life in an area home to 1 million Israelis, finally ends. Past cease-fires have been short lived.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke with the leaders of Britain, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria to press his case. "No government in the world would allow a situation where its population lives under the constant threat of rockets," Netanyahu told them, according to a statement from his office.

The diplomatic activity in Cairo illustrated Hamas' rising influence in a changing Middle East. The Arab Spring has brought Islamists to power and influence across the region, helping Hamas emerge from years of isolation.

Morsi warned that a ground operation by Irael will have "repercussions" across the region. "All must realize the situation is different than before, and the people of the region now are different than before and the leaders are different than before," he said at a joint press conference with Turkey's Islamist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan, like Morsi, leads an Islamist government that has chilly diplomatic ties with Israel.

On Friday, Morsi sent his prime minister to Gaza on a solidarity mission with Hamas. And on Saturday, Tunisia's Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem visited Gaza as well.

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Joe Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Karin Laub in Gaza City and Aya Batrawy in Cairo contributed reporting.

Lull in Gaza rocket fire, Israel keeps up strikes

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Rocket fire from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip has subsided as cease-fire efforts appear to be gaining momentum.

But the Israeli military is pressing ahead with its offensive against Palestinian rocket squads there.

The Israeli military said Sunday morning that Gaza militants haven't attacked Israel since the night before.

The lull coincides with Egyptian-led efforts to negotiate an end to the 5-day-old confrontation.

Israel is reluctant to let up without signs a truce would hold. Military aircraft attacked smuggling tunnels and other targets across Gaza, including a media building.

A Gaza health official said two Gaza teen-agers were killed when another building was hit.

Thousands of Israeli troops are massed near the Gaza border, meanwhile, awaiting an order to invade should Israeli leaders decide to widen the operation.

Israel, Gaza fighting rages on as Egypt seeks truce

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel bombed Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip from air and sea for a fifth straight day on Sunday, preparing for a possible ground invasion while also spelling out its conditions for a truce.

Palestinian fire into Israel subsided during the night but resumed in the morning, with two rockets targeting Tel Aviv. Both were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome air shield.

"As of now we have struck more than 1,000 targets, so Hamasshould do the math over whether it is worth or not to cease fire," said Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon.

"If there is quiet in the south and no rockets and missiles are fired at Israel's citizens, nor terrorist attacks engineered from the Gaza Strip, we will not attack," he wrote on Twitter.

Fifty Palestinians, about half of them civilians, including 14 children, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began, Palestinian officials said. More than 500 rockets fired from Gazahave hit Israel, killing three civilians.

Israel unleashed intensive air strikes on Wednesday, killing the military commander of the Hamas Islamist group that governs Gaza and spurns peace with the Jewish state.

Israel's declared goal is to deplete Gaza arsenals and press Hamas into stopping cross-border rocket fire that has plagued Israeli border towns for years and which has now targeted Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Air raids continued past midnight into Sunday, with warships shelling from the sea. Two Gaza City media buildings were hit, witnesses said, wounding six journalists and damaging facilities belonging to Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV as well as Britain's Sky News.

An employee of Beirut-based al Quds television station lost his leg in the attack, medics said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the strike had targeted a rooftop "transmission antenna used by Hamas to carry out terror activity". International media organizations demanded further clarification.

Three other attacks killed three children and wounded 14 other people, medical officials said.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said in Cairo, as his security deputies sought to broker a truce with Hamas leaders, that "there are some indications that there is a possibility of a ceasefire soon, but we do not yet have firm guarantees".

Egypt has mediated previous ceasefire deals between Israel and Hamas, the latest of which unraveled with recent violence.

A Palestinian official told Reuters the truce discussions would continue in Cairo on Sunday, saying "there is hope", but that it was too early to say whether the efforts would succeed.

At a Gaza news conference, Hamas military spokesman Abu Ubaida voiced defiance, saying: "This round of confrontation will not be the last against the Zionist enemy and it is only the beginning."

SYRIAN FRONT

Israel's military also saw action along the northern frontier, firing into Syria on Saturday in what it said was a response to shooting aimed at its troops in the occupied Golan Heights. Israel's chief military spokesman, citing Arab media, said it appeared Syrian soldiers were killed in the incident.

There were no reported casualties on the Israeli side from the shootings, the third case this month of violence seen as a spillover of battles between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels.

With Israeli tanks and artillery poised along the Gaza frontier for a possible ground operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his cabinet in Jerusalem on Sunday for its weekly meeting.

On Friday, ministers decided to double the current reserve troop quota set for the Gaza offensive to 75,000 and 30,000 soldiers have already been called up.

Israel's operation so far has drawn Western support for what U.S. and European leaders have called its right to self-defense, but there was also a growing number of calls from world leaders to seek an end to the hostilities.

British Prime Minister David Cameron "expressed concern over the risk of the conflict escalating further and the danger of further civilian casualties on both sides", in a conversation with Netanyahu, a spokesperson for Cameron said.

London was "putting pressure on both sides to de-escalate," the spokesman said, adding that Cameron had urged Netanyahu "to do everything possible to bring the conflict to an end."

Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, said the United States would like to see the conflict resolved through "de-escalation" and diplomacy, but also believed Israel had the right to self-defense.

Diplomats at the United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was expected to visit Israel and Egypt in the coming week to push for an end to the fighting.

A possible move into the densely populated Gaza Strip and the risk of major casualties it brings would be a significant gamble for Netanyahu, favored to win a January election.

The last Gaza war, a three-week Israeli blitz and invasion over the New Year of 2008-09, killed 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thirteen Israelis died in the conflict.

The current conflagration has stirred the pot of a Middle East already boiling from two years of Arab revolution and a civil war in Syria that threatens to spread beyond its borders.

One major change has been the election of an Islamist government in Cairo that is allied with Hamas, potentially narrowing Israel's maneuvering room in confronting the Palestinian group. Israel and Egypt made peace in 1979.

In attacks on Saturday, Israel destroyed the house of a Hamas commander near the Egyptian border.

Casualties there were averted however, because Israel had fired non-exploding missiles at the building beforehand from a drone, which the militant's family understood as a warning to flee, witnesses said.

Israeli aircraft also bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza on Saturday, including the offices of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and a police headquarters.

Israel's "Iron Dome" missile interceptor system has destroyed more than 200 incoming rockets from Gaza in mid-air since Wednesday, saving Israeli towns and cities from potentially significant damage.

However, one salvo fired on Sunday evaded Iron Dome and wounded two people after hitting a house in the coastal city of Ashkelon, police said.

(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Crispian Balmer)